To show his appreciation, Jason Liu wanted to give Qiqi a gift—something like new clothes or perfume.
But Qiqi refused.
"We're friends, right? It's completely normal for friends to show each other around their hometowns. You don't need to thank me like that," she said.
Back then, her big, pretty eyes were glowing, and her charming face was lit up with a bright smile. Jason Liu felt too embarrassed to say anything more.
In the end, they each bought an ice cream cone from a nearby shop and thanked each other by simply enjoying the cold treat together.
On the evening of the fourth day of his vacation, Jason flew back to Zheng City. That same night, he got a message from Qiqi that left him with mixed feelings—especially as someone who'd been single for what felt like forever.
Over the past few days, as they spent time together, Jason began to realize something. During their conversations, Qiqi often brought up the entertainment industry. She would talk about how promising it was and how much potential it had. Even though Jason wasn't the quickest when it came to reading between the lines, he eventually caught on.
It seemed like Qiqi was hoping to break into the entertainment world—maybe even become a celebrity. And more than that, it felt like she wanted his help to make that dream come true.
When that hit him, Jason felt stunned and a bit hurt. He'd thought she was smiling at him out of genuine happiness, but now, those smiles started to feel fake—like she had an agenda.
He had assumed Qiqi wanted to be his friend because he always treated her kindly and sincerely. But now it seemed like she was only getting close to him because she thought he could help her career.
When he finally understood that, Jason almost cried—not literally, but his heart definitely ached.
He had really believed that their friendship was built on something real, something emotional. But in the end, it felt like everything came down to one thing: money.
Jason had no choice but to stop lying to himself.
He didn't want to admit it, but deep down, he knew the truth. He was only able to buy fancy cars and a nice house, help his parents and sister, and even start a company—all because he made a lot of money smuggling goods between the modern world and the world of Game of Thrones.
That wealth also brought him into contact with women like Lin Xiaohan and Qiqi—women he never would've met if he were still just a regular office worker doing a 996 job (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week) barely getting by.
If he was still that same guy—just another average, awkward, broke man—nobody would give him a second look, except maybe his family.
So now that he was enjoying the perks of being rich, why should he act like money didn't matter? Why pretend he was only interested in pure feelings or love that had nothing to do with wealth?
Let's face it—money matters. In today's world, everything revolves around it.
Without money, you can't even breathe clean air, let alone drink safe water or live comfortably. It's not that Jason believed money was everything or that it should rule the world, but he knew it was foolish to pretend it wasn't important.
He was especially annoyed by those so-called "big shots" who pretended they didn't care about money. They'd go on and on about how money didn't matter to them—but behind the scenes, they were squeezing their workers dry and acting just like greedy capitalists.
And don't even get him started on those financial apps and online loan companies pretending to be tech companies. All they really did was trap young people in debt by pushing flashy loans and false promises.
Yes, Jason admitted that some people lacked self-control and were also to blame. But still, the companies were being shady.
Recently, one of the biggest news stories online was about a company called "Little Ant" planning to go public. Big investors and financial firms were scrambling to get a piece of the pie. Online forums were buzzing, and average people joined the hype too.
But it was pointless. The common folks—those "melon eaters," as netizens jokingly called them—would never get a real slice of that cake.
Once the company went public and stock prices soared, those big financial institutions would need people to buy their shares. That's when the ordinary folks would get pulled in like fools and lose money. Jason called them "non-vegetables"—basically, small fish waiting to be eaten by sharks.
He couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous it all was.
He just hoped those regular people would be okay and somehow find a way to escape before it was too late.
In the end, Jason couldn't help but think of those powerful figures who had once said, "I'm not interested in money." He found it hard to believe. If they didn't care about money, why would they act so greedy?
Maybe they were just better looking, so people gave them a pass.
Capital itself, Jason realized, was like a monster—greedy, cold, and always hungry. No one person could control it. The only thing strong enough to tame it, maybe, was the power of the state.
Jason lay back in the first-class seat of his flight, eyes closed, his mind buzzing with thoughts.
He realized he shouldn't be too harsh when it came to so-called "pure" feelings. After all, even Lin Xiaohan and Jiang Chuchu only reached out to him because he had money. If he hadn't become successful, nobody would have bothered.
So what if Qiqi only liked him because he was rich? That was still a kind of charm—his charm.
Thinking that way made him feel a little better.
Two days after Jason returned to Zheng City, Lin Xiaohan and Jiang Chuchu also came back from Sanya, where they had gone on vacation with their parents.
Soon, the university group chat was buzzing with plans for a class reunion lunch on the 7th.
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